New Treasury Widget

I love using Craft Cult's site for a variety of things Etsy! I am especially loving their treasury widget. This new tool allows one to search all the Treasuries they are in or they have made, customize the look, and get an html code to post on their website or blog.

Check out the current Etsy Treasuries I am features in (I found 75 total, but the most recent are some Front Page-worthy Valentine's Day Treasuries!

Welcome 2011!

Happy belated New Year to everyone. I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday.

We have returned from vacation and are currently working on our 2011 line of New Rainbow Crayons and ideas for our shop and blog. I wanted to share our two newest and updated Rainbow Crayon items.

Building Block Men Rainbow Crayons (Solid Color Set of 8)

*They are actual Lego man size, but cannot refer to the word "Lego" on Etsy*

Egg Rainbow Crayons (Set of 5)

While you are shopping around for Valentine's Day, do not forget our Heart Rainbow Crayons both in Jumbo and Mini Size, as well as a card to go along with your gift to say, "I'm Yours."

I would love any feedback or comments you have! Thanks for checking in with us!

Snail Mail Still Exists!

Happy Friday and three-day weekend!

I am curious to know how many out there still send snail mail? I sure do because it is so much more personalized when you actually receive a piece of mail from someone (that is not the constant junk mail and bills we get all the time). The mail would be so much nicer without the bills and junk mail, right?!

Today I introduced my newest gocco greeting card, the "Artsy Alphabet." I personally love this drawing and design I created since I am both a teacher and an artist. If you look really closely, you will notice something new every time! I hope you enjoy this card as much as I did in creating it! Let me know what you think below!

A Week in Review: Favors, Tie Dying, and Craft Night!

What a busy week! Check out these awesome things I did!!

RAINBOW CRAYON WEDDING FAVORS

On Monday and Tuesday, I finished up several Rainbow Crayon wedding favor orders. The colors for one wedding I was creating favors for were tangerine, magenta, and lime! How fun! Here is a photo of some of the Rainbow Crayons!

TIE DYE T-SHIRTS

Wednesday was full of art! I tied-dyed some t-shirts to try some new dyes. I have always used RIT dye, but it always fades and washes out. I went a different route this time and tried the Jacquard Tie Dye kit I bought at JoAnn Etc (see photo/link below).

This kit worked sooooo much better and the dye stayed in. We dyed the shirts, left them bundled (and rinsed the shirts till the water ran more clear), then washed them in the bundles in the washing machine with soap. I guess that is the correct way to do it. I did see where you should leave the dye in for 24 hours on other sites I searched, but I decided to follow the directions of the kit. We also pre-soaked the shirts in soda ash for 20 minutes before we tie dyed. What dyes or techniques have you used???

Here are some pictures together of the bundle, then how the shirts came out!

I was a little concerned that if I washed this shirts right away, that ALL the dye would come out. Nope! They turned out great!

Above: Other shirts we made...

Above: My first attempt ever at a V design and it worked.

Too bad I forgot to take a real picture of it!

Above: The Swirl

Above: Lines technique

CRAFT NIGHT

I have seen all these posts for Etsy Craft Parties, so I decided to start a Craft/Art Night! I figured, why do crafts just on one day of the year like Etsy is promoting?! It happens to be Etsy's Birthday on June 18th, the day they are suggesting others to throw a craft party, but I want to do it all summer!

I organized my first Craft Night, which met last Wednesday with a great turn out! The craft or theme for the first night was Lino-Cut Greeting Cards. I have so much fun carving stamps and art out of the soft-cut linoleum that I wanted my friends to try! Some of them were a little nervous to do this for the first time, but everyone had a blast! Here are some photos that show all the fun we had and the outcome!

Kelly has carved and is ready to print!

Melissa is carving away!

Some of the creations drying on the rack.

Monograms were a popular design for greeting cards. Artists had to remember to write/carve the letters backwards in order for the card to read correctly.

Kate applying ink to her tree design! This was one of my favorites!

Very cool flower design that Melissa made!

My first stamp carving of the night and the outcome... Pretty awesome birthday card I think!

More of my first card design...

My second carving/card design...

The aftermath...

My Newest Item to My shop!

Well.. my sale is over, but the good new is that I am adding fresh new items to my shop!

Here is today's new item...

Set of 20 Linocut Thank You Cards (Blank).

Let me know what you think of my cards of if you have any suggestions for me! Remember that when you comment, leave your Etsy Shop address for a chance for your Etsy mini to be featured!

Sketch Ideas for my First Gocco!

Hello again everyone!!! Sorry there has been a delay in my posts. As the school year comes to a close, my schedule keeps getting busier and busier!

This week was filled with a lot of things, but I did find some time to start sketching ideas for my first gocco. I have had my gocco for about three weeks now and have not done much with it. The screens and bulbs are so expensive, that I wanted to make sure I had some good ideas first.

 

I want to make some greeting cards first! The first two  ideas I have are below! The one with lots of designs is a little too crowded in one corner I think, but I can white out that part once I make the photocopy for the gocco. 

What do you think? Too crowded or some good diversity and asymmetry?

These designs have been inspired by Vera Bradley and a Crate and Barrel Catalogue for a starting point. I had fun trying to come up with different paisley patterns on the one below. No two paisleys are the same!

Which one do you like better? I am thinking about doing some black and white, a turquoise on brown paper, and  pink on brown paper. I love those color combinations.

I am also on the hunt for print plush!! Link me some from your shop or Flickr if you make them. I am going to do a feature soon on print plush. I really want to make some!

Please vote for your favorite design above!